narrator · Most of the chapters are narrated by Taylor Greer,
but Chapters Two and Four, which introduce Lou Ann, are narrated
by an anonymous, omniscient narrator

point of view · For the most part, the story is told from Taylor’s
point of view, and we are privy to her thoughts and feelings. Chapters
Two and Four are written from a limited omniscient perspective,
from which the narrator explains Lou Ann’s thinking.

tone · Folksy, poetic, humorous

tense · Immediate past

setting (time) · Early 1980s

setting (place) · The novel opens in rural Kentucky. Taylor travels across
the country to Tucson, Arizona, where she settles. At the end of
the novel, she takes a trip to Oklahoma before returning to Tucson.

protagonist · Taylor Greer

major conflict · Taylor tries to accept the responsibility of caring
for another person and to understand the plight of political refugees

rising action · Taylor receives Turtle, grows close to Mattie and Lou
Ann, and learns the story of Estevan and Esperanza

climax · Taylor decides to fight to keep Turtle and to risk
her own safety for Estevan and Esperanza

falling action · Estevan and Esperanza pretend to be Turtle’s biological
parents so that Taylor may adopt the little girl legally; Taylor
delivers Estevan and Esperanza to their new home; Taylor and Turtle head
back home to Tucson.

themes · The shared burden of womanhood; the plight of illegal immigrants;
respect for the environment

motifs · Rebirth; motherhood

symbols · Beans and bean trees; Ismene; birds

foreshadowing · The postcard with two Indian women on it, which Taylor
sends to her mother, foreshadows Taylor and Turtle’s relationship.
The snake in the desert foreshadows the prowler that attacks Turtle. The
survival of the bird that is trapped in the house foreshadows Turtle’s
recovery.

I would suggest that because the terms "illegal alien" and "illegal immigrant" are widely considered to be offensive, primarily because the concept of labeling a person as "illegal" is wrong, (as Taylor mentions in the book) that those terms be changed to the currently more politically correct term for an immigrant who enters a country illegally: "undocumented/unauthorized immigrant". This would show respect to both those who use Sparknotes and would read this synopsis, and also to the book, The Bean Trees, which very clearly rejected the u... Read more→